Elevator-boot



(No Model.)

" J. M. DODGE.

ELEVATOR BOOT. No. 355,514. I Patented Jan. 4, 1887.

FIG.I.

WITNESSES. I 'INVEZVTOR 00496 M7 kj ym ATTORNEY NITED STATES JAMES M.DODGE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE EWARTMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELEVATOR-BOOT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,5],4, dated January4-, 1887.

Application filed October 4, 1886. Serial No. 215,298. (No model.)

To all whom it mag concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES M. DODGE, of Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a 5 new and usefulImprovement in Elevator- Boots; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this application.

My invention relates to what are known as elevator-boots, and has forits main object to provide for use a boot of a novel construction orconformation, in which the usual buckets of an elevator will work whenhandling any heavy and lumpy material with less liabilityof clogging andundue cramping of the buckets in the boot, and consequent injuriousstrain and wear on the buckets, chain, and gearing of the elevator.

(usually of metal) with the leading end of the boot-t. 6., that portionthrough which the loaded bucket ascends out of the boot, in a curvedpath of motion-expanded horizontally andlongitudinally of the boot,sothatby reason of the enlarged curve of the bottom of the boot atitsleading end the filled buckets might more readily escape from or passforwardly and upwardly out of the boot; but this provision for a moreready clearance or escape from the boot than if it were made the same atthe portion through which the buckets pass forwardly and upwardly, as atthe part through which the buckets pass down into the boot, (to fill,)has been found to be insufficient to avoid not infrequentjamming orclogging of the buckets in the boot and the consequent strain on andsometimes breakage of the buckets or the chains or the connectionsbetween the devices of the elevator. v

It frequently happens, especially in handling coarse, lumpy and hardmaterial-such as coal or ores-that in passing up through the boot thebucket will crowd a lump of the material in between one of its own sidesand one of the two usually vertical and parallel sides of the boot, andif the lump, while thus wedged in between the side of the boot and 50that of the traveling bucket, be of the usual Heretofore elevator-bootshave been made irregular shape and get turnedso as to become forciblywedged between the bucket and the boot, all the parts of the elevatormachinery are of course subjected to undue strain, which sometimescauses serious injury to the 5 5 machinery.

I have found in practice that by making the sides of the bootflaring-that is, by having them run slightly divergently from the rearend or portion of the boot toward the leading end-a sufficient clearanceof all lumps which may gather between the sides of the buckets and thoseof the boot will be given to insure the ready escape or forcingforwardly and out of the way of such lumps without any injuriouscrowding of the lumps between the bucket and elevator sides.

Myinvention, hence, consists in an elevatorboot having sides which areflared apart or I diverge from thevicinity of that portion of the bootinto which the empty buckets descend toward the point at which. thefilled buckets pass out of the boot in an ascending direction, all aswill be hereinafter more fully explained.

To enable those skilled in the art to make 7 5 and use my invention, Iwill now proceed to more fully explain the latter, referring by lettersto the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, andin which I have so far successfully used it, and which is the best nowknown to me. I

In the drawings, Figure l is a side view of an elevator-boot madeaccording to my invention, and Fig. 2 is a top view of the same.

In'both figures the same part will be found designated by the sameletter of reference.

The boot shown is made, as usual, of metal, with its bottom curved andextended up rearwardly and forwardly, so that it runs into the curvedback and front ends, the latter and the 0 bottom constituting acontinuous curved surface of about the usual shape, as clearly shown atb c d in the drawings.

The two plain or fiat side' pieces, A A, of the boot are about vertical,as usual, and are 5 located at their exterior surfaces in parallelplanes, but have their inner surfaces slightly flaring or divergent fromtherear of the boot toward its front, as clearly seen at of g of Fig. 2.

In the side A, near their middles lengthwise, 10o

or brackets S,'bolted onto the tops of the sides A A of the boot.

A reference to Fig. 2, which shows the flaring or divergent arrangementof the interior side walls of the boots, will make clear the fact thatduring the filling and escape of a se ries of buckets mounted on a chain(or other) belt running over the wheel 0, said buckets moving alongwithin and passing up out of the boot in the direction indicated by thearrows, any lumps of coal or other material of irregular sizes andshapesthat may happen to get between the sides of the bucket (or eitherone of them) and the side walls of the boot (or either of them) will berolled or crowded along in the general direction of motion of thebucket, or toward the forward end of the boot, and will be pushed alongin a space between the boots walls and the buckets sides that are ofconstantly-increasing capacity, and that therefore any such lump orlumps of material will find a ready clearance or easy avenue of escapetoward and into the most forward and widest part of the boot, from whichsaid lump or lumps will naturally tumble backwardly and downwardlytoward the bottom of the boot, to be caught by and to fill into thesuccessively-approaching empty buckets.

Of course in carrying out my invention it may be found expedient, undersome circumstances, to make the sides of the boot so as to also spreadapart slightly from the bottom toward the top of the boot; but I havenot found this to be generally necessary in practice.

The degree of flare to the divergent side walls shown may be varied moreor less, in the judgment of the constructer of the boot, and accordingto the character of material to be handled by the boot and its elevator;but I have found the shape shown to embody asufll cient degree of flarein these side walls for all practical purposes.

Much of the advantage due to my invention might be derived by having theside walls of the boot flared only from the vicinity of the point atwhich the buckets begin to turn and.

fill within the boot toward the forward end, instead of from the extremerear end of the boot to the front, as shown; but I have found theprecise form and arrangement of flared sides to Work well.

Whatl claim, broadly, as of my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

An elevator-boot having the interior side walls flared or divergent fromthe rear toward the leading end or front of the boot, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 2d day of August,1886.

JAMES M. DODGE.

In presence of-- D. S, GARWOOD, EDWARD H. BURR.

